Habs game 6 action, outside Bell Center

It was total mayhem downtown in Montreal tonight outside of the Bell Center where the Montreal Canadiens (nicknamed the Habs) were playing the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 6 of the series. I found a spot outside of the McDonald's with good light, and a spot to nestle my bike in without getting over run by fans. A cop car sat there blocking the main road to the arena, which was just for fans and a big screen outside. The Habs colours are blue white and red (bleu, blanc, rouge) and the McDonald's was yellow (Jaune). The cop car was also red white and blue which is kind of neat. I liked the sky which was just on the verge of night time, I did it with indo blue (PB60), phthalo blue on the horizon (PB15), and a streak of pyrol orange (PO73) with indo blue at the very top. 

Bleu blanc rouge (et jaune), watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, May 2026

Here was the scene looking towards the arena (which is on the right, unseen in the painting). A large crowd was cheering loudly, and I could hear the massive crowd inside of the arena, and hear the whistles from the ref and the announcer call, and the sound of the sticks and pucks though loudspeakers. Waves of cheering kept going, although I could not see the score, only the back of the screen. Incidentally it was 0 - 0 the whole game, and Tampa scored in overtime to take it to a game 7 in Tampa. 

Bell Center big screen, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026

This was the first painting I did, after approaching the scene along the st Jacques bike path. A cop car blocked the road here too, and there were cruisers parked all over. The Bell Center is seen up in the background, with the Bonaventure station ramp going over to the upper left. Another watercolour painter stopped and talked to me, she had her paint kit with her, and we will follow each-other on Instagram, that was kind of neat. I made the traffic lights on the left red, blue and white to go with the theme. 

Bell Center game 6 Montagne street, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, May 2026 

Red river and Assiniboine river, Fork

Assiniboine river is a tributary of the Red River, they meet at a fork in the center of Winnipeg, in fact, these rivers were a main reason Winnipeg formed as a city to begin with. Assiniboine is the name of a First Nations peoples of the northern Great Plains, while Red River might have something to do with its colour, there was a silty iron-oxide look to it. This painting shows two geese taking off from the Red River, from the vantage point of The Forks, a National park that has been a meeting ground for over 6000 years. Geese were honking the whole time I painted along the rivers, and I had to watch where I was stepping! 

Geese flycing over Red River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Here I was standing in South Point park, it is a triangle of land where the Assiniboine and Red rivers meet... the former is on the left, the latter on the right. A giant tree with many trunks anchored itself exactly on the point, it was a stony ground with packed earth. 

Forks point tree, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Standing on the same spot, looking upstream along Red River, there was a view of the Norwood bridge, part of the Trans Canada highway. The trees in Winnipeg were interesting, medium sized with very chaotic, zig zag branches. There were no leaves out yet, barely a hint of green. When I got back to Montreal, things were turning green. 

Norwood Bridge Red River, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Still in the same location, I did a painting of the support structure of a footbridge that crosses from Point park to the Forks park across the Assiniboine river. Some colourful graffiti adorned the stones, although I changed it to be my initials and year. The bridge was closed however, I guess they open it more in tourist season. It was early morning for these paintings, so you can see the morning glow and shadows. 

Graff under bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

This is the first painting I did on the Winnipeg trip early in the morning, I caught a view of the sun coming through some light cloud cover through trees. I was standing along the embankment of the Assiniboine river, so the south Point Park is across the way. In the foreground, you see a walking path descending into water, the whole pathway along the shore was flooded out, and several staircases went down into water. The city had blocked off such paths until waters recede. 

Assiniboine overflow, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

Further downstream is the Forks historic port, now a tourist 'trap', there were restaurants and souvenir shops here, I bought a few items. A small beach was at the river-side, with thick mud covering the lowest tier. Birds' footprints were all along the mud, to which I added my initials in the painting (not in real life). The base of a train bridge can be seen in the background. I did a lot of paintings of trains, I will post in a separate blog. In fact, I did 45 paintings in total in Winnipeg, so a few more blogs to go! 

Mud beach bird prints, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

 

The furthest point I reached downstream on the Red River, here you see the first major bend of the river to the right (south), after which it turns sharply back to the north. It was getting late here and the weather cooling off. A few geese swam near the shore. It was very peaceful.

Red River bend, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Various scenes from Winnipeg, Manitoba

I attended the Canadian Society for Immunology conference in Winnipeg Manitoba. I learned a lot about vaccination, infectious diseases, and quite a few other things, and I was invited to give a talk in Montreal, and to participate on a new grant with a professor from U Sherbrooke. And the food was fantastic too! I had a few extra days to paint, and found time around the conference schedule to get out and explore Winnipeg. 

This painting shows the incredible Museum for Human Rights, at first I was unaware of what the building was, and so painted it with the ideas of its sweeping glass and sandstone facade. It must be about 20 stories tall, and then some with the spire. Sandstone was a common theme, many buildings in Winnipeg are made from a yellow ochre, raw sienna brick and stone... a toasty yellow colour. They also spread sand in the winter of the same tone, which further created a yellowish tint on many scenes.  

Canadian Museum for Human Rights, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026

Just off of Main street on Pacific avenue there is an interesting building with a two-tone blue facade and red detailing. Looking it up on google maps, its a marshal arts club, and used to have a restaurant on the bottom floor. There was a bit of graffiti on the side wall. Wandering up to the north part of Winnipeg gave a much different vibe than the downtown core where the hotel and convention center were located. There were many people out and about here, socializing and seeming to have fun, or a little too much fun maybe. The city has a lot of social services around here too, like medical, food, help centers. 

Ching Wu Athletic Association, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

Another old industrial building turned condo, this is the Telegram building on Albert street. Now its a collection of fancy shops and what appears to be loft condos. Winnipeg still has quite a few old industrial buildings that seemed to be functional, they also had many large parking lots and open spaces. I got the impression Montreal used to be like this, but now there are hardly any parking lots left, and the old industrial buildings have been converted to condos. 

Telegram building, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

The Dominion News building on Portage avenue is no longer a news building, it seemed to be converted into various shops. The architecture includes a green copper dome, ornate stone work, and Roman pillars make for a striking corner. Instead of realism I went for expressionism here, the paint was flowing and the lines were dancing. I have to admit, I painted fast at night in Winnipeg, unsure of the safety levels here, although nothing untoward happened. 

Dominion News building, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

More of the old industrial, this large warehouse-factory complex used to be a candy and nut manufacturer. Winnipeg obviously takes care of their heritage properties, you see them all over the city. In this case, they preserved the painted signage... Nutty Club Candy Nuts, although I simplified the design in the painting, and removed a layer, it was actually one story taller in real life. Its easily viewable on Google maps on the corner of Westbrook st. and Pioneer av. In real life, it had an amazing patina up close, paint over rust, and wood structures that looked to be well over 100 years old. I embellished the colours here to make the walls look like cotton candy. 

Nutty Club, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

The Forks area is a spectacular feature in Winnipeg, and likely the main reason the city exists in the first place. Long time a gathering area for indigenous people, it became a fort and trading post, then came the train and continued growth. There are many monuments all around this area (including the human rights museum), memorials for missing and murdered indigenous women, the residential school atrocities, and the interaction between colonial and indigenous people. There was also a large astrological installment, in line with Stonehenge, it is designed to spot constellations and sun/moon positions, it was called Odena celebration center. This painting shows part of the children's museum, with a small pile of snow remaining, and an iconic Winnipeg lime-green dumpster in the foreground. Virtually all the dumpsters in town were the same lime colour.  

The Forks Children's museum, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026  

Big blue sky in Winnipeg

There was a big blue sky in Winnipeg today, surprisingly sunny with a strong breeze. The city is surrounded to the south and east with wide spread industrial buildings, parking lots and the rail line. This scene is in the historic downtown, reminiscent of Montreal. Some Persian protestors gathered here and went for a march along the wide sidewalks. No cops escorting them! It was peaceful but a local person yelled at them. I made a lot of paintings today, now the conference starts late afternoon. Time for some immunology. 

Oxford Hotel, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, April 2026

Winnipeg Spring

Here is one of the many paintings I did today in downtown Winnipeg, it shows a popular shop. Using a Van Gogh style I captured the spirit of the scene. There were a lot of good scenes along the Red River, and around Forks Park where the rivers converge. The weather was cool and windy and mostly overcast. 

PJD POT 26, 6 x 7.5" watercolour, April 2026

Waiting for LUFA, last paintings before trip

Waiting for the LUFA vegetables after work, I rode out to the ridge line on Benny Hill behind the mega hospital. You can walk up a narrow, tree-lined dirt path to get great views of downtown. Somebody installed a vigilante park bench here, it was painted bright blue and had rust on it, no way it was a city installation. They always put a concrete slab underneath, and the benches are made of more durable material than this. 

Blue bench Benny Hill, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Behind the hospital there is an enormous grassy flats, probably a water reservoir underneath else it would have been developed. It could also be hospital land they are holding on to for a future expansion, who knows. This view looking due north shows the commuter train going by with some housing, and Mount Royal in the background.  

Commuter train grass flats, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Still no vegetable delivery (they text you when it arrives), I caught this view of the commuter train rumbling by, almost head-on from the bike path. I painted it from memory... when it passed, I just memorized the angles and some details. I made the grill look like an angry face. 

Commuter train head on, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

You think Quebec would have learned their lesson after Lac-Mégantic 's disaster when a train derailed, but they continue to build housing next to train tracks. This one is right beside the tracks, which are unseen to the right. As they build the condo, it has a red layer on top where they pour concrete for new levels, then the green insulation and window frames rising up from the bottom. Next they will lay bricks and install windows. 

New condos red and green, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Finally the delivery arrived at Trenholme park. I did one last painting of a poor old tree on its last days. The trunk was split and branches looked sad, that orange spray-paint is the way the city marks trees to be cut down. They plant new ones eventually, these trees are probably from the mid 20th century. 

Tree last days, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Palette Cleansers, going to Winnipeg

With a trip to Winnipeg starting tomorrow, I made some extensive palette cleansing and loaded up the palettes for some location painting. The main reason for the trip is the Canadian Immunology meeting, and as usual I will make a few paintings here and there in Winnipeg. The weather forecast is cold and nasty with wind rain and snow... so pretty much what I'm used to, although it will be considerably nicer back in Montreal. This abstract painting was done as I cleaned the yellow and earth sections of the palette, it ended up looking like a blinged-out totem chimpanzee or something.

Berried in Earth, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2026

This was done with the cool section of my palette and the high chroma area (yellow to red). You can see a paint-out of my normal palette set-up here, its organized into earth colours top left, dark shadow colours top middle, green range top right, high chroma colours bottom left, and a blob of black paint bottom right. 

Leaf Table Sunset, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2026